This study employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine Thai public responses to the Constitutional Court's dissolution of the Move Forward Party (MFP) on August 7, 2024. The MFP, which emerged as the successor to the dissolved Future Forward Party, had secured the most seats in Thailand's 2023 general election amid unprecedented voter turnout. However, in 2024, the Constitutional Court ordered MFP's dissolution and imposed ten-year political bans on its executive members, citing their proposed lèse-majesté reforms as an attempt to overthrow the constitutional monarchy. By analyzing real-time chat comments posted during YouTube live streams of the verdict, this research investigates how competing political ideologies manifest linguistically in public discourse. Drawing on Fairclough’s theoretical framework of CDA and analytical tools from Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar, the study focuses on three key terms- “Thailand,” “people/citizens”, and “democracy”- to understand the evolving nature of Thailand’s political polarization. The findings reveal clear ideological divisions between conservatives and pro-democracy factions, reflecting deeper social tensions surrounding Thailand’s political institutions. This research contributes to our understanding of how politically significant events catalyze public discourse and illuminate underlying ideological conflicts in contemporary Thai society.

Authors:
Hikaru Kuwahara, Mahidol University, Thailand

About the Presenter(s)
Ms. Hikaru Kuwahara is a doctoral student at Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia, Mahidol University, Thailand. Her interests include discourse analysis, language and ideology, Japanese, Korean and Thai linguistics.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hikaru-kuwahara-353218351/

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